With the arrival of Peak Oil, the curtain has closed on Act 1 of the drama Petroleum Man. What will happen in Act 2? Chekhov said, "If there's a gun on the wall at the beginning of the play, by the end it must go off." In the world's nuclear arsenal are many guns on the wall. If life copies art, will there be an Act 3 in which the players, having learned their lesson the hard way, live sustainably? To explore these and other questions... FTW's Act 2 Blog. Read, comment, take heart! Orkin

Friday, April 24, 2009

A BIG APOLOGY

A BIG APOLOGY

Oops! In all the painstaking effort to get the book into pre-sale, someone forgot to check that the automatic software was set to limit purchase quantities to five. It turns out that I'm the one who discovered it. (It's the German in me.) Well, some dinners are getting interrupted because New World didn't know either. I don't think you've ever seen a team swing into action more quickly. That problem will be resolved shortly. To all of you who were prepared to buy large quantities I can assure you the problem will be fixed in very short order. God bless you if you've been making multiple orders. All I know now is that we sold 16 copies in the first twenty minutes and that was even before our announcement for pre-sale went out!

It looks like we have a hit on our hands and -- God willing -- a voice in this madness.

Also Blogger ate my homework: three days worth of links, lost in cyberspace. (The software occasionally freezes.) Here is a skeleton reconstruction of some stories focussed on viruses of one kind or another:

5 comments:

MCR may be interested, in any case what will someone, "recovering" today's Wreckage, in 100 Yr.s, think of our Insanity?I was a Fire Control Technician on the B 52 bomber, I chose SAC because back then (1959), SAC was our Defensive Air Force.Look at what they did to that Peace Defender, turned it into an Attack Killer!!But back then I was really just kidding myself.

I want Mike's book to be the KICK A--, that shakes the world out of it's trance!

Sorry guys, had to do it. Balance with the world outside and nourish the inner spirit. This one does it for me.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,be on good terms with all persons.Speak your truth quietly and clearly;and listen to others,even to the dull and the ignorant;they too have their story.Avoid loud and aggressive persons;they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,you may become vain or bitter,for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.Keep interested in your own career, however humble;it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,for the world is full of trickery.But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;many persons strive for high ideals,and everywhere life is full of heroism.Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.Neither be cynical about love,for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,gracefully surrendering the things of youth.Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,be gentle with yourself.You are a child of the universeno less than the trees and the stars;you have a right to be here.And whether or not it is clear to you,no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,whatever you conceive Him to be.And whatever your labors and aspirations,in the noisy confusion of life,keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,it is still a beautiful world.Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

authorize.net won't accept Maestro/Cirrus debit cards (UK/Europe) Their page says it will "accept debit cards with your Authorize.Net account as long as they have the Visa or MasterCard logo on the card" and Maestro is owned by Mastercard "Maestro is MasterCard International's lead debit brand and offers over 540 million cardholders" but they won't accept it, keeps coming up "invalid" and I cut my credit cards up years ago!

Guess we'll have to wait for amazon to stock it on this side of the pond :(

Joining the ROE caucuses We have started a Running on Empty (ROE) caucus of Washington State Democrats . We have also started a national ROE caucus. The goal of this caucus is to bring more emphasis by our Party to the coming end of cheap oil and natural gas which will result in an extreme disaster.

To become a member of our caucus we require some more information from you. If you agree or basically agree with the following statements and you are a Democrat, then we will accept you into our caucus.

1. There are no sustainable energy sources that will rescue us at our current population levels.

2. Population reduction must be a part of any plan to rationally deal with peak oil (the end of cheap oil, natural gas, and coal), global climate change, biological/species decline, and natural resource depletion.

3. Global climate change will only be mitigated with extremely stringent emissions policies that reduce consumption rates and this must be done before fossil fuels are depleted.

4. Absent immediate attention to peak oil, our government and/or political system have no chance whatsoever to react soon enough to help us.

Books about Problem(s)

Richard Heinberg The Party's OverRichard Heinberg Power downJames Kunstler The Long EmergencyThom Hartmann Unequal Protection David Korten Agenda for a New Economy

Pres. Obama does not have the power to assure CIA interrogrators who are accused of cruel, Inhuman or degrading treatment and/or torture will not be prosecuted.If Obama does not insure the proesecution of CIA interrogators, etc, will he become an accessory after the fact to torture?

What is a prosecutor's responsiblity to prosecute a crime?

How about DoJ's failure to prosecute drug trafficking at Mena, AR and the drug case developed by DEA Agent, Mike Levine as noted in my on-line book? ...Isn't it a lawyer's responsibility as a citizen and officers of the court, to report a crime he/she knows about, to law enforcement agency or to a state or national prosecutor's office (that is, not having learned form a confession of his/her client). Does a prosecutor have the right not to prosecute a violation of criminal law when there is creditable evidence that a person(s) done it?

What if it is an open and shut case, like the present allegation of torture done by US persons? Can all the lawyers who have been arguing against prosecuting those who authorized, wrote legal opinions, and did the torturing, be dis-bared as accessories after the fact?

Whoever, knowing that an offense has been committed, receives, relieves, comforts or assists the offender in order to hinder or prevent his apprehension, trial or punishment, is an accessory after the fact; one who knowing a felony to have been committed by another, receives, relieves, comforts, or assists the felon in order to hinder the felon's apprehension, trial, or punishment. U.S.C. 18 April 16, 2009

Obama stated : ..." it is our intention to assure those who carried out their duties (aka inflicted Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading treatment and torture) ... that they will not be subject to prosecution."

Comment: BULLSHIT...."relying in good faith upon legal advice from the Department of Justice".

Everyone in the CIA or military knew it was illegal and a violation of the Geneva and Hague convention!... Did you know that there are secret charters/laws authorizing the CIA to question Americans about their foreign travels, and to enter into arrangements with American universities..... per a classified excutive order signed in 1959 and called National Security intelligence Directives NDCID 7 . What other NSCIDs are still secret giving the CIA the legal right to operate inside the US, when it is commonly believed that only the FBI has this right? (source: The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, page 276)